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 County results
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The1916 United States presidential election in Wisconsin was held on November 7, 1916 as part of the1916 United States presidential election. State voters chose 13 electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president.
Ever since the decline ofthe Populist movement,Wisconsin had become almost aone-party state dominated by the Republican Party.[1] The Democratic Party became entirely uncompetitive outside certain German Catholic counties adjoiningLake Michigan as the upper classes, along with the majority of workers who followed them, completely fled fromWilliam Jennings Bryan's agrarian andfree silver sympathies.[2] As Democratic strength weakened severely after 1894 – although the state did develop a strongSocialist Party to provide opposition to the GOP – Wisconsin developed the direct Republican primary in 1903 and this ultimately created competition between the "League" underRobert M. La Follette, and the conservative "Regular" faction.[3]
At the turn of the decade, the Democratic Party underwent a brief revival, as it made significant gains upon its small share of state legislative seats and many people in the state saw inNew Jersey GovernorWoodrow Wilson the possibility of the party returning to the ideals it was felt to have deserted with Bryan fifteen years beforehand.[4] Wilson would carry Wisconsin in1912 and in fact improve upon Bryan's share of the vote from1908.
During his term, however, Wisconsin's heavilyGerman-American population turned against Wilson, with the result that in 1914 the Democrats lost ground in the state legislature, and with the outbreak of war in Europe this opposition increased, because the concurrent Irish rebellion was believed to lie in the interests of theCentral Powers, and Wilson was viewed as strongly pro-British.[5] The position of President Wilson as strongly pro-British was intensified when he failed to accept clemency forRoger Casement.[5]
Republican nomineeCharles Evans Hughes campaigned in the state during September,[6] but President Wilson did not campaign in the state, although it was viewed as doubtful in September despite strong feelings that German-American opposition would eliminate Wilson's chance.[7] Near the end of October, aTennessean polls suggested that Wilson would carry the state due to his anti-war sentiment,[8] but theLos Angeles Times said Hughes would carry the state by a "moderate margin" despite a straw poll in favour of Wilson.[9] TheOshkosh Northwestern on October 26 viewed the state as "doubtful", but said their polls indicated Hughes would win by around fifteen thousand votes.[10]
| Party | Pledged to | Elector | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | L. K. Baker | 221,323 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | William W. Storms | 221,215 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | Frank Smith | 221,181 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | Walter J. Kohler | 221,026 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | Fred C. Pritzlaff | 221,011 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | O. G. Munson | 220,979 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | L. M. Alexander | 220,968 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | H. D. Lauson | 220,952 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | G. A. Walter Jr. | 220,923 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | John S. Medary | 220,897 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | O. K. Hawley | 220,866 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | A. H. Stange | 220,866 | |
| Republican Party | Charles Evans Hughes | James T. Drought | 220,857 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | John C. Karel | 193,042 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | Charles W. Wiesse | 191,857 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | J. E. Dodge | 191,834 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | Vincent J. Schoenecker | 191,692 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | W. J. Kershaw | 191,665 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | Aldro Jenks | 191,562 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | Andrew R. McDonald | 191,548 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | Henry Moehlenpah | 191,491 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | John R. Matthews | 191,488 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | L. J. Pasternecki | 191,483 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | Otto C. Wernecke | 191,469 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | J. H. Cernahan | 191,450 | |
| Democratic Party | Woodrow Wilson | J. A. Hobe | 191,245 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | A. J. Melms | 27,846 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | Oscar Ameringer | 27,802 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | Edward Ziegler | 27,739 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | James Vint | 27,703 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | Charles H. Olson | 27,692 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | John Doerfler Sr. | 27,678 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | John Chilson | 27,665 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | Edward D. Deuss | 27,656 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | Robert Schuttler | 27,656 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | Curtis A. Boorman | 27,637 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | G. M. Schmitz | 27,631 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | D. V. Lawell | 27,621 | |
| Socialist Party | Allan L. Benson | Otto F. Eick | 27,600 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Anthony J. Benjamin | 7,166 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Frank R. Derrick | 7,130 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Charles Schlafer | 7,117 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Louis M. Sagen | 7,110 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Jasper Dexter | 7,108 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Herbert S. Siggelko | 7,104 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Almon I. Collins | 7,096 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Pliny F. Meyers | 7,093 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | William R. Nethercut | 7,084 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Oliver Needham | 7,076 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Charles E. Badger | 7,068 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | David W. Emerson | 7,047 | |
| Prohibition Party | James Hanly | Waldemar Ager | 7,025 | |
| Write-in | Scattering | 25 | ||
| Votes cast[b] | 449,402 | |||
| County[11][12][13] | Charles Evans Hughes Republican | Woodrow Wilson Democratic | Allan L. Benson Socialist | James Hanly Prohibition | Margin | Total votes cast[c][d] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 957 | 51.15% | 824 | 44.04% | 48 | 2.57% | 42 | 2.24% | 133 | 7.11% | 1,871 |
| Ashland | 2,017 | 51.94% | 1,599 | 41.18% | 189 | 4.87% | 78 | 2.01% | 418 | 10.76% | 3,883 |
| Barron | 2,772 | 54.91% | 1,890 | 37.44% | 136 | 2.69% | 250 | 4.95% | 882 | 17.47% | 5,048 |
| Bayfield | 1,321 | 51.12% | 997 | 38.58% | 225 | 8.71% | 41 | 1.59% | 324 | 12.54% | 2,584 |
| Brown | 4,132 | 40.01% | 5,771 | 55.88% | 223 | 2.16% | 201 | 1.95% | -1,639 | -15.87% | 10,327 |
| Buffalo | 1,492 | 56.56% | 1,044 | 39.58% | 63 | 2.39% | 39 | 1.48% | 448 | 16.98% | 2,638 |
| Burnett | 1,007 | 53.97% | 638 | 34.19% | 169 | 9.06% | 52 | 2.79% | 369 | 19.77% | 1,866 |
| Calumet | 1,981 | 57.20% | 1,384 | 39.97% | 74 | 2.14% | 24 | 0.69% | 597 | 17.24% | 3,463 |
| Chippewa | 3,327 | 58.15% | 2,234 | 39.05% | 72 | 1.26% | 88 | 1.54% | 1,093 | 19.11% | 5,721 |
| Clark | 3,413 | 64.95% | 1,629 | 31.00% | 129 | 2.45% | 84 | 1.60% | 1,784 | 33.95% | 5,255 |
| Columbia | 3,432 | 57.66% | 2,314 | 38.88% | 80 | 1.34% | 126 | 2.12% | 1,118 | 18.78% | 5,952 |
| Crawford | 1,883 | 50.66% | 1,764 | 47.46% | 32 | 0.86% | 38 | 1.02% | 119 | 3.20% | 3,717 |
| Dane | 6,947 | 40.04% | 9,923 | 57.19% | 190 | 1.10% | 291 | 1.68% | -2,976 | -17.15% | 17,351 |
| Dodge | 4,916 | 50.73% | 4,535 | 46.80% | 111 | 1.15% | 128 | 1.32% | 381 | 3.93% | 9,690 |
| Door | 1,656 | 56.27% | 1,204 | 40.91% | 38 | 1.29% | 45 | 1.53% | 452 | 15.36% | 2,943 |
| Douglas | 3,060 | 43.82% | 2,971 | 42.55% | 798 | 11.43% | 154 | 2.21% | 89 | 1.27% | 6,983 |
| Dunn | 2,589 | 60.20% | 1,457 | 33.88% | 172 | 4.00% | 83 | 1.93% | 1,132 | 26.32% | 4,301 |
| Eau Claire | 2,961 | 53.19% | 2,302 | 41.35% | 187 | 3.36% | 117 | 2.10% | 659 | 11.84% | 5,567 |
| Florence | 412 | 69.36% | 162 | 27.27% | 9 | 1.52% | 11 | 1.85% | 250 | 42.09% | 594 |
| Fond du Lac | 5,820 | 51.86% | 5,118 | 45.61% | 130 | 1.16% | 154 | 1.37% | 702 | 6.26% | 11,222 |
| Forest | 739 | 52.15% | 638 | 45.02% | 18 | 1.27% | 22 | 1.55% | 101 | 7.13% | 1,417 |
| Grant | 4,720 | 56.30% | 3,460 | 41.27% | 70 | 0.84% | 133 | 1.59% | 1,260 | 15.03% | 8,383 |
| Green | 2,446 | 55.84% | 1,699 | 38.79% | 65 | 1.48% | 170 | 3.88% | 747 | 17.05% | 4,380 |
| Green Lake | 1,650 | 53.07% | 1,353 | 43.52% | 34 | 1.09% | 47 | 1.51% | 297 | 9.55% | 3,109[e] |
| Iowa | 2,271 | 48.79% | 2,230 | 47.91% | 19 | 0.41% | 135 | 2.90% | 41 | 0.88% | 4,655 |
| Iron | 672 | 54.63% | 475 | 38.62% | 43 | 3.50% | 40 | 3.25% | 197 | 16.02% | 1,230 |
| Jackson | 1,866 | 64.10% | 966 | 33.18% | 50 | 1.72% | 29 | 1.00% | 900 | 30.92% | 2,911 |
| Jefferson | 3,809 | 49.54% | 3,676 | 47.81% | 84 | 1.09% | 120 | 1.56% | 133 | 1.73% | 7,689 |
| Juneau | 2,335 | 58.99% | 1,449 | 36.61% | 109 | 2.75% | 65 | 1.64% | 886 | 22.39% | 3,958 |
| Kenosha | 3,537 | 50.99% | 2,817 | 40.61% | 497 | 7.16% | 86 | 1.24% | 720 | 10.38% | 6,937 |
| Kewaunee | 1,104 | 35.04% | 2,011 | 63.82% | 20 | 0.63% | 16 | 0.51% | -907 | -28.78% | 3,151 |
| La Crosse | 3,659 | 44.57% | 4,160 | 50.68% | 281 | 3.42% | 109 | 1.33% | -501 | -6.10% | 8,209 |
| Lafayette | 2,545 | 54.09% | 2,059 | 43.76% | 18 | 0.38% | 83 | 1.76% | 486 | 10.33% | 4,705 |
| Langlade | 1,540 | 45.10% | 1,757 | 51.45% | 81 | 2.37% | 37 | 1.08% | -217 | -6.35% | 3,415 |
| Lincoln | 2,191 | 60.74% | 1,282 | 35.54% | 98 | 2.72% | 36 | 1.00% | 909 | 25.20% | 3,607 |
| Manitowoc | 4,236 | 46.43% | 4,364 | 47.84% | 453 | 4.97% | 70 | 0.77% | -128 | -1.40% | 9,123 |
| Marathon | 5,868 | 57.13% | 3,702 | 36.04% | 607 | 5.91% | 95 | 0.92% | 2,166 | 21.09% | 10,272 |
| Marinette | 2,807 | 53.40% | 2,212 | 42.08% | 146 | 2.78% | 92 | 1.75% | 595 | 11.32% | 5,257 |
| Marquette | 1,385 | 58.86% | 924 | 39.27% | 15 | 0.64% | 29 | 1.23% | 461 | 19.59% | 2,353 |
| Milwaukee | 27,957 | 34.73% | 35,041 | 43.53% | 17,076 | 21.21% | 427 | 0.53% | -7,084 | -8.80% | 80,501 |
| Monroe | 3,068 | 57.81% | 2,012 | 37.91% | 121 | 2.28% | 106 | 2.00% | 1,056 | 19.90% | 5,307 |
| Oconto | 2,614 | 56.45% | 1,907 | 41.18% | 70 | 1.51% | 40 | 0.86% | 707 | 15.27% | 4,631 |
| Oneida | 1,103 | 45.02% | 1,085 | 44.29% | 249 | 10.16% | 13 | 0.53% | 18 | 0.73% | 2,450 |
| Outagamie | 5,346 | 52.84% | 4,505 | 44.52% | 166 | 1.64% | 101 | 1.00% | 841 | 8.31% | 10,118 |
| Ozaukee | 1,610 | 49.39% | 1,579 | 48.44% | 51 | 1.56% | 20 | 0.61% | 31 | 0.95% | 3,260 |
| Pepin | 766 | 53.19% | 623 | 43.26% | 25 | 1.74% | 26 | 1.81% | 143 | 9.93% | 1,440 |
| Pierce | 1,946 | 51.88% | 1,652 | 44.04% | 72 | 1.92% | 81 | 2.16% | 294 | 7.84% | 3,751 |
| Polk | 2,080 | 51.19% | 1,714 | 42.19% | 195 | 4.80% | 74 | 1.82% | 366 | 9.01% | 4,063 |
| Portage | 2,523 | 44.54% | 3,001 | 52.98% | 71 | 1.25% | 69 | 1.22% | -478 | -8.44% | 5,664 |
| Price | 1,621 | 56.36% | 1,051 | 36.54% | 147 | 5.11% | 57 | 1.98% | 570 | 19.82% | 2,876 |
| Racine[f][12][13] | 4,496 | 42.26% | 5,083 | 47.78% | 605 | 5.69% | 455 | 4.28% | -587 | -5.52% | 10,639 |
| Richland | 2,053 | 48.55% | 1,848 | 43.70% | 89 | 2.10% | 239 | 5.65% | 205 | 4.85% | 4,229 |
| Rock | 7,042 | 61.11% | 4,032 | 34.99% | 223 | 1.94% | 227 | 1.97% | 3,010 | 26.12% | 11,524 |
| Rusk | 989 | 47.62% | 926 | 44.58% | 114 | 5.49% | 48 | 2.31% | 63 | 3.03% | 2,077 |
| Sauk | 3,786 | 59.53% | 2,276 | 35.79% | 43 | 0.68% | 255 | 4.01% | 1,510 | 23.74% | 6,360 |
| Sawyer | 551 | 46.62% | 562 | 47.55% | 51 | 4.31% | 18 | 1.52% | -11 | -0.93% | 1,182 |
| Shawano | 3,417 | 68.72% | 1,368 | 27.51% | 130 | 2.61% | 57 | 1.15% | 2,049 | 41.21% | 4,972 |
| Sheboygan | 5,573 | 52.89% | 3,903 | 37.04% | 976 | 9.26% | 85 | 0.81% | 1,670 | 15.85% | 10,537 |
| St. Croix | 2,739 | 50.99% | 2,373 | 44.17% | 176 | 3.28% | 84 | 1.56% | 366 | 6.81% | 5,372 |
| Taylor | 1,544 | 60.17% | 846 | 32.97% | 136 | 5.30% | 40 | 1.56% | 698 | 27.20% | 2,566 |
| Trempealeau | 2,139 | 56.05% | 1,578 | 41.35% | 29 | 0.76% | 70 | 1.83% | 561 | 14.70% | 3,816 |
| Vernon | 2,928 | 58.64% | 1,839 | 36.83% | 49 | 0.98% | 177 | 3.54% | 1,089 | 21.81% | 4,993 |
| Vilas | 531 | 48.49% | 467 | 42.65% | 81 | 7.40% | 16 | 1.46% | 64 | 5.84% | 1,095 |
| Walworth | 4,004 | 59.60% | 2,458 | 36.59% | 57 | 0.85% | 199 | 2.96% | 1,546 | 23.01% | 6,718 |
| Washburn | 938 | 55.31% | 647 | 38.15% | 77 | 4.54% | 34 | 2.00% | 291 | 17.16% | 1,696 |
| Washington | 2,896 | 50.31% | 2,736 | 47.53% | 75 | 1.30% | 49 | 0.85% | 160 | 2.78% | 5,756 |
| Waukesha | 3,778 | 45.15% | 4,219 | 50.42% | 146 | 1.74% | 225 | 2.69% | -441 | -5.27% | 8,368 |
| Waupaca | 4,493 | 69.85% | 1,721 | 26.76% | 98 | 1.52% | 120 | 1.87% | 2,772 | 43.10% | 6,432 |
| Waushara | 2,345 | 67.31% | 1,015 | 29.13% | 78 | 2.24% | 46 | 1.32% | 1,330 | 38.17% | 3,484 |
| Winnebago | 5,993 | 50.51% | 5,328 | 44.90% | 383 | 3.23% | 162 | 1.37% | 665 | 5.60% | 11,866 |
| Wood | 2,979 | 50.30% | 2,653 | 44.80% | 204 | 3.44% | 86 | 1.45% | 326 | 5.50% | 5,922 |
| Total | 221,323 | 49.25% | 193,042 | 42.96% | 27,846 | 6.20% | 7,166 | 1.59% | 28,281 | 6.29% | 449,402 |
As things turned out, Wisconsin would be comfortably, if not overwhelmingly, carried by Republican nominee Hughes, who won the state by 6.29 percentage points. Signs of the collapse of German Catholic Democratic loyalties were seen in Hughes carryingOzaukee County, which no Republican had ever won before and was Wisconsin's only county to resist major Republican landslides by backing bothWilliam Jennings Bryan in1896 and1900 andAlton Brooks Parker in1904.[14] This German Catholic Democratic collapse – broken abruptly by a powerful vote for coreligionistAl Smith in1928 and forFranklin D. Roosevelt in1932 – would be a major feature of interwar Wisconsin presidential politics.
By backing Wilson,Portage County voted for the statewide loser for the first time ever; the county's bellwether streak had extended all the way back to Wisconsin's statehood in 1848. Simultaneously, this election began several very long bellwether streaks in other counties:Adams County andJackson County would back the statewide winner in every election until2020;Washburn County in every election until2000;Burnett County in every election until1980; andEau Claire County in every election until1968.
State and district results of the1916 United States presidential election | ||
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